Omaha Beef
The Omaha Beef are a professional indoor football team. They are a member of the Indoor Football League. They play their home games at Omaha Civic Auditorium, which was also once the home of the AHL's Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights and now the home of the returning Omaha Lancers. Omaha originally played in the Indoor Professional Football League in 2000 and 2001 as an expansion team before moving to the National Indoor Football League in 2002. The Beef then joined the newly formed United Indoor Football in 2005 as a charter member. In 2008, the UIF merged with the Intense Football League to create the Indoor Football League. History Omaha has had some very heated battles in their times together with Sioux City and Sioux Falls since the NIFL. The three cities have shown they value the I-29 rivalries that exist in that they have followed one another through multiple leagues to stay in competition. So far, in their existence, the Beef have made the playoffs every season, but they have yet to win a league championship. Also what makes the Beef organization different is they have the only male dance team, the Rumproasters, along with a female dance team, the Prime dancers. The Rumproasters, men of all different sizes, have been with the team since its inception. The Rumproasters perform routines from Grease all the way to Hip Hop, making them the Max Patkin of the organization. The Rumproasters are also considered the ambassadors of the organization due to such commitment and chartible events they participate in. The Prime dancers have won several awards including the best dance team three times in the UIF and 2009 dance team of the year in the IFL. They are ambassadors for the Beef organization as well and perform in conjunction with the Rumproasters including a routine for the last regular season home game which can include ballroom dancing. The mascot for the Beef is an angus bull named Sir Loin. He has won mascot of the year three times in UIF and just was named 2009 mascot of the year in the IFL and is a fan favorite. The Omaha Beef have worked in partnership with Omaha's ESPN Radio, 1620 AM, along with their sister station KKAR 1290. For two years, the majority of Play-by-play commentary has been conducted by Nick Handley, with color mixed in from Unsportsmanlike Conduct's Mike'l Severe. Late in the 2007 season, aspiring broadcaster Matt SantaMaria helped shoulder the load admirably over a six week run that including Omaha's thrilling 43-40 win at Colorado and their eventual playoff loss at Billings, 62-27. Matt SantaMaria won best radio play-by-play award in the UIF for 2008. They had started the Russ and Rob Omaha Beef Coaches show on BigSports 590, their new partner in broadcasting. Starting in 2008, the Omaha Beef away games can be seen at Indigo Joe's Sports Pub and Restaurant located at 7425 Dodge Street in Omaha. The games are broadcast via the internet by B2 Networks and b.IT Consulting and displayed on monitors around the restaurant. As of 5/20/2009 b.IT Consulting was no longer involved with the Omaha Beef web broadcast due to billing disputes and non-payment of invoices. There are ongoing changes throughout the organization pertaining to management and ownership that have created some potential rifts among those involved. This leaves a possibility of the team having to suspend operations for a year. Due to some reorganizing the owners have folded their other IFL franchise the River City Rage to focus on the Beef. There are still has questions as the owners still have outstanding debts to pay to former coaches and staff from the Beef and accusations of missing funds being blamed to formers GMs. The Beef will continue to operate with new GM , River City's former head coach and staff and rehired staff from previous era of Omaha Beef. External links * Omaha Beef official site Category:Omaha Beef Category:Indoor Football League teams